Join The Enterprise Adviser Network

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Your role as an Enterprise Adviser

An Enterprise Adviser is a volunteer from business who works closely with the headteacher or Senior Leadership Team of a school or college to provide strategic support. You will use your business experience and professional networks to help develop and implement an effective strategy that puts opportunities wih local employers at the heart of a young person's education.

Why become an Enterprise Adviser?

Volunteering as an Enterprise Adviser can be incredibly rewarding. You’ll be supported by a trained, full-time Enterprise Coordinator and a range of practical resources to help you in your role. You can also benefit from peer support from other volunteers and broaden your network of contacts further.

Being an Enterprise Adviser is a great opportunity to:

Support your local school or college to deliver world class careers guidance to their students, enabling young people to be prepared and inspired for the fast-changing world of work.

Undertake strategic planning in a new context; developing your skills in communication and strategy development.

Build strong working relationships with schools and colleges and provide insight into your organisation, industry and the opportunities available in the local labour market.

Give back to your community.

Better understand the education sector and the challengesfaced.

Develop your local business network.

What you'll be doing

An Enterprise Adviser adds value by:

Providing an employer's perspective on what businesses are likely to be willing to do and what opportunities businesses would value.

Supporting the school or college's senior leadership team to develop a school or college strategic plan to ensure every young person receives a meaningful employer encounter and workplace experiences- you are not expected to be an expert in the Careers landscape to do this!

Engaging with local businesses and employers in your network to encourage their involvement in activities at the school or college.

Helping schools and colleges to focus efforts on programmes and activities that are most effective in motivating young people, supporting independent choice and enabling positive outcomes for young people.

Is being an Enterprise Adviser right for me?

Our Enterprise Advisers come from different industry sectors and professional backgrounds, be that employed, self-employed or recently retired. As an Enterprise Adviser you can use your unique business experience to inspire young people and prepare them for when they leave education.

You’ll gain new skills working with the senior leadership in a school and use your network to bring the right people together. If this appeals to you, and you are able to give around eight hours of your time a month over one academic year, we’d love to hear from you.

How do I get involved?

With your help, we can bring the right people together to strengthen our network and put young people's futures first.

Case studies

“ It's great working with the school and helping to get other businesses involved. The big thing for me is that this is all about enabling young people to make the best possible careers choices in life. It's also important that we get more business people across England volunteering to become Enterprise Advisers and sharing their experience in school. ”

ROGER WILSON Enterprise Adviser of the Year, Supporting Queen Katherine School Secondary School in Kendral, Cumbria